Jordan Pefok kept his goal-scoring form going but had to leave the game with an injury as Borussia Monchengladbach settled for a point while Keven Paredes bagged his first goal of the season for Wolfsburg as they settled for the draw with Werder Bremen.
Freiburg 3-3 Borussia Monchengladbach
Borussia Monchengladbach did well to respond to being a goal down but could not hold on to their lead as Freiburg fought back to secure a point in a thriller at the Europa Park Stadion.
Both Jordan Pefok and Joe Scally started for the Foals. Pefok played 43 minutes before coming off with an injury, completing all of his passes, winning four duels, and creating two chances along with one shot on target. Scally went the distance as he completed 86 percent of his passes, won three duels, and made two tackles.
The hosts jumped out to an early lead after seven minutes. Kilian Sildillia played a through ball to Merlin Rohl down the right flank and he then sent a low cross in the six-yard box for Lucas Holer to tap home with ease.
‘Gladbach responded in the 25th minute when Julian Weigl sent the ball over the top to Luca Netz in the box. The defender headed the ball towards the center, allowing Pefok to get his head on and send it over the outstretched hand of the Freiburg goalkeeper.
The visitors took the lead four minutes later when Freiburg was caught on the counterattack. Alassane Plea collected the ball at midfield from Weigl and dribbled all the way into the area before steering his shot into the back of the net.
Weigl then went from provider to goal scorer in the 39th minute as he put away a spot kick following the video assistant referee’s intervention for a penalty that saw Pefok brought down in the area.
The Foals were feeling very good after their first-half performance but surrendered their lead in the second.
Noah Weisshaupt cut the deficit in the 70th minute for the hosts when they launched their own counter, with Holer playing the ball to the German midfielder to slam home.
The visitors only had themselves to blame for gifting the equalizer as the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Fabio Chiarodia was the guilty party as he kicked out at Weisshaupt in the box. Vincenzo Grifo would convert the penalty to ensure his team took a point.
Borussia Monchengladbach sits in 11th place in the standings with 10 points.
Wolfsburg 2-2 Werder Bremen
Wolfsburg did all they could to hold on after going down to 10 men in the late stages of the game to share the points with Werder Bremen at the Volkswagen Arena.
Kevin Paredes started for the Wolves and played 84 minutes, completing 91 percent of his passes, winning eight duels, and creating one chance along with a shot on target.
The hosts found themselves behind after seven minutes when Marvin Ducksch’s free-kick left goalkeeper Pavao Pervan rooted to his spot as it hit the back of the net.
The comeback would start after the half-hour mark when Vaclav Cerny leveled the score. Mattias Svanberg played the ball to Joakim Maehle whose cross took a deflection into the path of the Czech midfielder to steer between the legs of both a defender and the goalkeeper.
Paredes got his name on the scoresheet in the 59th minute as he left wide open to put to away a cross from his teammate Lovro Majer that gave his team the lead.
However, the visitors responded six minutes later with an equalizer as Rafael Borre as he rose up to head in a cross from Mitchell Weiser.
Wolfsburg was then left to play with 10 men when Maxence Lacroix was sent off for a second yellow card as the Frenchman laid a shoulder into Justin Nijnmah.
The draw leaves Wolfsburg in ninth place in the standings with 13 points.
Notes
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Gio Reyna was on the bench but saw no action for Borussia Dortmund as they were beaten 4-0 by Bayern Munich in the der Klassiker.
Lennard Maloney started and went the distance for Heidenheim as they knocked off Stuttgart in a 2-0 win.
In the battle of the Aaronson brothers, both Brenden and Paxten only played a few minutes as Eintracht Frankfurt added to Union Berlin’s slump with a 3-0 win.
John Brooks was an unused sub this time around as Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Hoffenheim fought valiantly but suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to first-place side Bayer Leverkusen.
In the 2. Bundesliga, former U.S. men’s national team players clashed as Julian Green scored a goal and made an assist as he, Maximilian Dietz, and Greuther Furth recorded a 2-0 win over Terrence Boyd and Kaiserslautern.
Nathaniel Brown played the full 90 minutes for Nurnberg as they were clipped by Schalke in a 2-1 loss.
Johan Gomez came on to play the final 18 minutes for Eintracht Braunschweig in their 2-0 loss to Hannover.
Down in the 3. Liga, Mael Corboz was the hero for Verl as he scored a stoppage-time winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Erzgebirge Aue.
Rot-Weiss Essen moved up to third place in the standings following a 2-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld as Isaiah Young played 77 minutes.
Both Ryan Malone and Bryang Kayo started as Ingolstadt settled for a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund II.
Jalen Hawkins played 88 minutes and Santiago Castaneda ran out for only the first half as Waldhof Mannheim and Duisburg played out a 0-0 draw.
Andrew Wooten was on the bench but did not play as Preussen Munster held on for a 3-2 win over Ulm.
Joseph Richardson continued to wait to play his first minutes for Sandhausen as they held Saarbrucken to a 2-2 draw.
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